I know this thread is about "American Culture"; however, I'm posting about something true for other anglophone cultures.

I'm going to speak about something I discussed with Krystyna lately.

I already stated English speaking people liked jokes (some more than others).

Krystyna told me they intentionally made grammar mistakes to both say funny things and stress the words.

3 examples in which there are apparent errors but they're intentional:-1- I already wrote about the funny "more betterer" to say sth was far better.-2- Krystyna told me about a common "Is you coming?" which translates an irritated tone asking whether or not the person is coming after several hesitations: yes then no then yes...-3- she also told me about "we was so tired!" to express they were really exhausted!

Of course, each example contains a big mistake: they are made to draw the attention on the words.

So, when you meet a mistake in a text, don't conclude the person is uneducated: the mistake means something - insistence.

This is used not only in Australia or the States but also in the UK (though jokes are not as frequent in the latter as elsewhere).

HTH - Hope this helps!

~~ edit Wednesday February 23I forgot to say that these intentional mistakes are said "with a silly voice" that shows something special has to be noticed.

It's true that in French, we have our "Si j'aurais su j'aurais pas v'nu" by petit Gibus but it's something we took from the film "La guerre des boutons"; we wouldn't take the risk of saying "si j'aurais été anglais, j'aurais eu de bonnes notes au bac" 'cause we would be given filthy looks.

Dernière édition par gerardM le Mer 23 Fév - 14:55, édité 3 fois

_________________Please feel free to point out big mistakes in my messages in a foreign language. Thanks to your remarks, I'll be able to improve my level.PS: Pls note that I chose American English for my vocabulary, grammar, spelling, culture, etc.

> Language-learning is very subtle.Very! This is not to surprise you as you love the culture behind the words, don't you?

> Not only you have to delete your mistakes but also to find a meaning when people make someSo now, we can keep mistakes and just explain they are made on purpose.

Till now, I thought only poets might make intentional mistakes!

Finaly, English speaking people have several ways to stress things (to replace "very"); I'm thinking of :- "that" like in "I didn't know it was that weird"- "way" like in "to live way beyond one's means"- "far" like in "as far back as I can remember" ou "far shorter"- "quite" like in "that will be quite a change for you"- these intentional grammar mistakes

~~The only equivalent I can see in French is our "plus mieux". Do you see others?

You probably know about "childish" which stands for "enfantin", about "whitish" meaning "blanchâtre", etc.In fact, English speaking people like to use this suffix.The French have the -âtre suffix for the colors: "blanchâtre, verdâtre, jaunâtre, grisâtre".The English use -ish for lots of words including nouns like in "childish" (which becomes an adjective), in "we arrived at fourish" ("nous sommes arrivés vers 4 heures), in "earlyish" (assez tôt), in "he's thirtyish" (il a dans les 30 ans).

I often hear a long sentence then after a while, a simple "ish" meaning "ou c'est tout comme". LOL I love this feature!

This is handy but of course this is nothing compared to the italian language which is a king in using suffixes such as -one -ino -eto and so on and so forth and so fifth I must also reckon English language doesn't have the French -et/-ette to describe small or cute or lovely thingies (maisonnette, hommelette, mauviette, voiturette, disquette, chiffonnette, etc.).Oh in French, we also use the -ard suffix to mean that we dislike.

gerardM a écrit:... they intentionally made grammar mistakes to both say funny things and stress the words...

I forgot to say that these intentional mistakes are said "with a silly voice" that shows something special has to be noticed.

It's true that in French, we have our "Si j'aurais su j'aurais pas v'nu" by petit Gibus but it's something we took from the film "La guerre des boutons"; we wouldn't take the risk of saying "si j'aurais été anglais, j'aurais eu de bonnes notes au bac" 'cause we would be given filthy looks.

_________________Please feel free to point out big mistakes in my messages in a foreign language. Thanks to your remarks, I'll be able to improve my level.PS: Pls note that I chose American English for my vocabulary, grammar, spelling, culture, etc.

In an old post, I spoke about Pike Market, in Seattle, WA where shopkeepers send salmons.

Friends of mine are presently there and they sent me... not salmons but a picture taken with their cell phone!

-> Fresh fish and fresh picture! Yummy!

_________________Please feel free to point out big mistakes in my messages in a foreign language. Thanks to your remarks, I'll be able to improve my level.PS: Pls note that I chose American English for my vocabulary, grammar, spelling, culture, etc.

Though my colleagues and friends went to attend a meeting in Bellevue starting today, they all arrived a few days before and settled in Downtown Seattle where this market is.Doesn't the pictured market look like a French market?Seattle has got something special.I received oodles of photos:Here's is Nicolas at the "Fisherman's" down Pike Street -> (normal 1-person dish)

I remember an American friend who came to my town and who found our street market a marvell and she wanted to shoot everything on the stands around.

_________________Please feel free to point out big mistakes in my messages in a foreign language. Thanks to your remarks, I'll be able to improve my level.PS: Pls note that I chose American English for my vocabulary, grammar, spelling, culture, etc.

From now on, my friends will stay in Bellevue (and go to the Microsoft Campus in Redmond in the day).

I've only a few photos now because it's strictly forbidden to shoot MS buildings and even tell me in which one they are.The campus is huge and we've to take a shuttle or a private cab to go to other buildings... it's very nice (many trees and even woods).

_________________Please feel free to point out big mistakes in my messages in a foreign language. Thanks to your remarks, I'll be able to improve my level.PS: Pls note that I chose American English for my vocabulary, grammar, spelling, culture, etc.

I just want to say a few words about American law because I wrote, I don't remember when that I would ask my daughter about that.In England they set precedents : Jurisprudence. In America law used to be like in England but nowadays there are more and more laws like in France; If you know more, you are welcome.